Shravan Das, a toryteller from Bihar’s Mithilanchal region, has been taken into custody in connection with an alleged rape of a minor, police said on Monday.
Darbhanga Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)
Jagunath Reddy said the arrest was made by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the leadership of Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Rajiv Kumar.
Acting on a tip-off, police teams carried out a search operation and detained the accused from the Housing Board Colony area.
“A joint team from the Women’s Police Station, Laheriasarai Police Station, and other nearby stations, acting on a tip-off, apprehended the accused from the Housing Board Colony,” the SSP said.
According to the FIR, the accused allegedly sexually abused a minor girl over an extended period. The complaint claims that he gained her trust by promising marriage. The FIR, filed by the victim’s mother, also alleges that the minor was forced to undergo an abortion.
SSP Reddy said the police are also looking into the role of Mauni Baba, who is believed to be an associate and spiritual mentor of the storyteller. “Mauni Baba is currently absconding,” he said.
Police officials added that the accused is being questioned in detail and that further legal action will follow based on the findings of the investigation.
Tejashwi Yadav Attacks CM Nitish Kumar
The arrest also sparked a political row in the state. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday criticised the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, accusing it of failing to stop crime in the state against women and minors. He also alleged that criminals are being protected.
In a post on X, Yadav wrote, “The corrupt system and machine-made double-engine NDA government has become a reliable tool for oppressors, corrupt individuals, criminals, and rapists. The insensitive Nitish government in Bihar, formed through vote-buying, is perpetrating atrocities on minor girls, female students, daughters, and women across the entire state.”
“Because these are atrocities sustained by those in power, the government’s key figures are maintaining a hypocritical silence on these spine-chilling horrific incidents while pretending to be saints. In Madhepura, the gang rape and murder of a widow woman; in Khagaria, the heinous gang rape and murder of a 4-year-old minor girl; in Patna, the rape of a NEET aspirant from Jehanabad, followed by a brutal murder and a cover-up protected by those in power, these incidents show that this government has become ruthless, cruel, and inhuman,” he added.
